Letters Home
by prettylittlepinklady
Summary: When a letter from Malia shows up on Stiles' desk eight years after she disappeared, he has no idea how much his quiet life with his seven-year-old daughter is about to change.
1. Chapter 1

Stiles woke to the annoying sound of his alarm going off and groaned. He wasn't ready for the week to start again. He roughly punched the snooze button and rolled over to get a few more minutes of sleep.

At least that was the plan. The sound of running feet and a soft giggle as a small blur of long brown hair launched herself onto her father's bed burst Stiles's bubble of hope. His eight year old daughter, Allie jumped on him in excitement.

"Daddy, wake up! It's almost time to go."

"No it's not. Go back to sleep, Allie." Stiles mumbled and rolled away from her. She just laughed and jumped on him again.

"Yes it is, Daddy. It's quarter past eight." Stiles sat up quickly then and looked at his clock. Shit. It was quarter past eight. He mustn't have set it for earlier the night before.

"Okay, Allie, you go and get yourself dressed, I'll meet you in the kitchen for breakfast. Do you want toast?"

"Yes please." The little girl kissed his cheek and hurried off down the hall to her bedroom. As he had every morning for the past seven years, Stiles turned to the empty side of his bed sadly and gently patted the blankets where his girlfriend should have slept.

He got up and dressed, donning the boring old suit he wore every work day now and ventured into the kitchen which was still a mess from the night before. Scott and Kira had come over with their twins, Naomi and Aiden, the night before and there were dishes everywhere that needed washing. Stiles sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.

"Daddy, I'm ready!" Allie appeared and gave a little twirl in her chosen outfit of the day; a pretty purple dress and little black shoes.

"Very nice." Stiles smiled at his daughter. "Do you think you can start on breakfast for me? I need to wash some of these dishes."

"Yep." Within fifteen minutes, some order had returned to the kitchen and the two of them were heading out the front door, armed with a hot pink back pack for Allie and a briefcase for Stiles.

"You'll be good for Uncle Scott and Aunt Kira, won't you?"

"Of course Daddy. I'm always good." Stiles glanced at his daughter in the rearview mirror of his car and smirked.

"Only when I'm not around."

As usual, it took Stiles several minutes to say goodbye to Allie when he left her at Scott and Kira's but neither of them intervened. They knew he was just protective of her and worried about her because of Malia's sudden disappearance.

"She'll be fine, Stiles. You need to get going or you'll be late." Scott murmured after a while and Stiles stood up, nodding.

"I know. Well, I guess Ill see you tonight. See you Allie."

* * *

"Yo, Stiles! There's a letter on your desk. Looks old." Stiles' friend, Jacob called as he made his way to his desk, sipping a coffee.

"Thanks. Any more reports since Friday?"

"Nope. And nothing on Malia either."

"Just another normal day then." Sighing, Stiles resigned himself to a day spent sitting at his desk, going through page after page of legal stuff, searching for a connection that likely wouldn't be there. After Malia left, Stiles changed his college major and joined the FBI in the hopes that one day, a case might lead him to the whereabouts of his girlfriend. So far, no luck. Nearly everyone he worked with knew about Malia and everyone kept an eye out but even the tiniest glimmers of hope failed to come to anything.

By the end of the day, Stiles was exhausted. He hadn't yet had a chance to read the letter on his desk but hoped to get a moment when he picked up Allie. He didn't recognize the handwriting on the front but it was very old so Stiles was quite excited to find out who it was from.

"Daddy!" Walking in the front door of Scott and Kira's house, he was almost bowled over by three excited children running full-pelt at him "Uncle Stiles!"

"Whoa! Hey there. How's it goin' champ?" He ruffled six year old Aiden's hair. "Were you good today, pumpkin?" Allie hugged him tightly and he bent to kiss her head. The sound of muffled laughter told him that the mini stampede was planned and he looked up to see Scott standing in the doorway of the kitchen, watching.

"You're a terrible person, Scott."

"I know." Shaking his head, Scott gestured for the kids to go into the living room. "Tough day?"

"Kinda. I just want to relax. Do you mind if I chill here for a bit?"

"Go ahead. I could use the extra pair of hands to wrangle the twins today."

"Where's Kira? I thought she was home too."

"She was. Her boss called her in for some emergency just after lunch, though so I've had to deal with the terrible trio all afternoon. Did you know it was possible for three people that small to turn the living room into a war zone?"

"Yup. That's what happens with two six year olds and a very excited seven year old. They don't get to spend much time together normally and now they've basically spent twenty-four hours together."

"I don't ever remember being that bad. Even when we were together." Scott frowned at the living room where the laughter told the two men that the war zone was once again being ravaged. "You want a drink?"

"Sure. I'll wait out on the porch. I've got a letter I want to read." Nodding, Scott went into the kitchen while Stiles took a seat on the front porch, pulling the tattered letter from his pocket and tearing it open.

 _Stiles,_

 _If you're reading this, it's probably been a long time since we talked. I guess you'll have a lot of questions, about where I went, about why I left, about everything. First off, I just want to tell you, I always loved you. I never wanted to hurt you but things happened that I just needed to get away._

 _I think of you and our daughter every day. It's hard to believe she'll be eight this November. I'm sure you've raised her well and I know she will have grown up surrounded by the best possible people._

 _I knew, long before I left, that one day I would have to go. I dreaded the day coming for months. In order to tell you what happened, I need to start from the beginning. Funnily enough, the whole thing started not long after Mexico. On returning to Beacon Hills, I could already tell that everything was going to change. Scott was recovering from his time, short at it was, as a Berserker. Liam was learning to control his shift and get used to being a werewolf. You were dealing with everything that had happened, nearly killing your best friend, losing Derek._

 _Then Senior year. Man, that was hard. Of course, academically speaking, it was always going to be hard. I knew that. We all did. But none of us were prepared for what happened that year. I don't think anyone could have predicted what happened. We were lucky that we survived. Yes, we lost friends, dear friends, along the way but the important thing is that no one else will die from supernatural causes in Beacon Hills._

 _Every day, I picture Lydia's face as she lay in front of me, the life being drained out of her like water from a pool. The two of us were never particularly close, but I knew she meant a lot to you and seeing you hurting hurts me. If I could have done something, anything to save her, I would have. I hope you know that. The sound of her scream will forever haunt my dreams and I still, to this day, wake up some nights, with the echoes of her banshee scream all around me._

 _The losses of Lydia, Derek and Chris hit us all pretty hard. But we pulled through. We finished senior year. The memorial service to all those who'd died, fighting for us, with us, was beautiful. It was something we will all, I'm sure, remember for a long time to come. The school was so supportive of all of us, I don't think I would have finished if not for the support from them and, of course, from you._

 _We thought everything was done and gone. And technically speaking, it was. But there was still a memory, burned deep into our minds. One that haunted all of us for a long time after. I know you won't admit it but I'm the one who wakes up when you jump in your sleep from a nightmare. I'm the one who holds you close to calm you, even in your sleep. You, out of all of us, had the most to lose. You'd already been affected by your mind losing control and I worried so much that something might happen to you again._

 _For two years, everything was normal. We went to college, moved out of home, went to parties, hung out with friends. Everything normal people our age did. I can still remember the feeling, walking into our first apartment together. It was like I had a whole new life ahead of me. A life I was destined to spend with you. Scott and Kira were next door and Liam practically lived between the two apartments. When Isaac returned from London after Chris' death, it finally felt like the pack was a whole again._

 _And in some ways it was. Of course, there was always going to be holes left by Allison, Lydia, Derek and the twins. But we made a new pack, one that was just as strong, if not stronger than the original._

 _Anyway, those two years were absolute bliss for all of us. What happened at the end of those two years, though, that's when it really turned bad. We were out partying, do you remember? It was Scott and Kira's anniversary and they'd invited us out to a new club they'd found. Of course you'd tried to get out of it, claiming you had homework to finish but I found a pretty good way to convince you to join us…_

 _The night itself was amazing. I didn't get drunk, of course, but I was free to dance and move as I liked and could always claim I was drunk if someone asked. It was when I got home that night and found myself puking up my guts after I finally managed to get you into bed that I realized something was wrong. At first, I brushed it off, not wanting to make a big deal out of it, especially if it turned out to be nothing. But after a week of throwing up constantly, I had to talk to Deaton. He assured me that everything was normal. I was confused at first but then he told me I was pregnant. I was so shocked, I think I passed out. I have no idea how I got home from the clinic that day. Waiting for you was pure agony. I just wanted to pick up the phone and call you but I knew that you had a full day of classes ahead and I had to wait._

 _Fortunately, Scott and Kira were too wrapped up in each other, quite literally I might add, god I hate the super hearing sometimes, to come over to the apartment as they normally did and I guess Liam was just busy that day. When you finally came home, I could barely contain my excitement. I'm sure you can remember that. We were so happy that we were going to be parents. Of course, it was never going to be ideal, being unwed and in college but we were sure we could figure out a way._

 _For the first month or so, it worked, we managed to find a bigger apartment to move into and it was in a convenient location for school and everyday life. Scott wanted us to stay, closer to where he could protect us if we needed it, especially since you're human and even though I'm a werecoyote, I was pregnant. But we convinced him that we'd be fine. And we were, at least until my second trimester._

 _That's when things started getting hard. I couldn't concentrate on my school work and every little thing you did was starting to annoy me. I know it wasn't your fault and Deaton had warned me that things would get tough as the pregnancy wore on. Still my reactions to everything were inappropriate and even though I couldn't see that at the time, I can now. Before I go any further, I just want to apologise for everything I put you through in those few months. It can't have been easy living with me then but you stuck it out and were still there for me when, three days before my due date, I screamed you awake at 3am to drive to the hospital._

 _Every painful second of labour was worth it to see the look on your face when the nurse placed our daughter in your arms for the first time. I could tell, from that second, she would have you wrapped around her little finger, tiny as they were._

 _I laugh now about how much we fought over what to name her. It seems silly that it took so long to decide on a name when it should have been obvious from the beginning: she was always going to be our little Allie. Allie Maria Stilinski. I'll bet she's just beautiful now. I've always pictured her with long, dark hair, the same colour as yours. But her eyes were mine. I could see that as a baby._

 _Those first few months with Allie were amazing. I'll never forget them. She was an instant hit with the pack and both our dads doted on her. Looking back, I think the whole new baby thing is what pushed me over the edge. Without realising it, I sank into depression. But with all the attention focused on Allie, I don't think anyone realised it._

 _Allie's first year passed and the depression seemed to go away. I guess my supernatural healing fixed it or something. But I was still weary of everything. I went out after work most nights, to run through the Reserve. It was my way of letting off steam and the adrenaline made me happy. I was doing that for almost six months when I ran into someone, literally. At the time, I didn't know who she was but over the next few days, I kept seeing her around town, watching me. Eventually, I cornered her in the supermarket and she told me who she was._

 _She was, of course, another supernatural creature, a faerie. When she first told me, I just assumed she'd been brought here because of the Nemeton, the same as all the other supernatural creatures. But she claimed to have been brought here because of me. The fae had heard about my being a coyote for so many years and apparently changing back to human meant a shift in the balance of natural and supernatural._

 _I spent over an hour talking to her and she told me that she'd been watching me ever since Scott turned me. At first, she was content just to watch. But when she realised I'd fallen for you and even had a child with you, she decided something needed to be done._

 _She gave me an ultimatum; leave you and Allie willingly or she would kill the two of you. I automatically refused but something she said after that changed my mind. Since then I've been planning my leave. There was so much to organise and I had no help. No one knows where I'm headed, to be honest, even I don't know._

 _I don't know what will happen when I'm gone, whether the fae will hang around Beacon Hills or not but please know, if I could have found another way to protect you and stay with you at the same time, I would have done it in a heart beat. The only thing I can say is I know we will be together again one day._

 _I guess by the time you're reading this, you will have given up looking for me. You will have moved on, probably found another woman to love, maybe even married her. I hope you're happy and I hope Allie is happy too. There is just one thing I want you to remember: Never give up on anybody. Miracles happen every day._

 _Anyway, I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for everything that I put you through these past seven years and I hope you can find it in your heart, to forgive me. I hope you can tell Allie that her mom loves her and I hope that she can forgive me too. There's another letter, in this envelope for her, but I want her to read it before you do._

 _I will always love you, Stiles, never forget that._

 _Malia xxx_

"Sitles? You okay man?" Scott's voice pulled Stiles from his thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm okay. You'll never guess who the letter is from though."

"Your dad?"

"Nope." Stiles passed the letter to his best friend who glanced at the sign off.

"Malia? Oh my god. You know what this means, right? You can find her now."

"Find who now?" Kira appeared on the front lawn and checked the letterbox before joining her husband and Stiles on the porch.

"Malia. She sent me a letter." Stiles half-heartedly waved at the papers in Scott's hand.

"Oh wow. Do you mind if I read it?"

"Go ahead. It's not really anything personal. Just a basic explanation of why she left." Kira quickly scanned the letter and gasped.

"Fae? They're real?"

"What are fae?" Scott asked, earning himself looks from the other two. "What?"

"Aren't you supposed to be the big True Alpha?" Kira teased him.

"I quote myself : I don't understand how you live without me sometimes." Stiles laughed

"Haha. You two are hilarious. Now, what are fae?"

"A type of fairy. Usually considered to be evil."

"Evil fairies? You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope. And according to Malia, they're here. In Beacon Hills." Stiles said.

"What for?"

"Apparently they thought us turning Malia back to human unbalanced the natural and supernatural. They came here to get rid of her. Or me and Allie."

"Are they still here?" Kira wondered and neither of the men missed her quick glance towards the living room window. They were all worried about the fact that there were children involved now.

"I don't know. I haven't sensed any new supernatural creatures here for years. But if what Malia says is true and they were here before, then I guess it wouldn't make a difference if they were here." Scott said, his head tilted to the side.

"We don't even know what they look like. If they are still here, they could be anyone." Before Stiles or Kira could answer a shriek came from the living room and the three adults looked up.

"Dad! Aiden pinched me!" Rolling his eyes, Scott led the way inside to answer his daughter. The three kids were on the floor in front of the couch and Naomi was rubbing at her arm, tears in her eyes. Allie was glaring at Aiden who was grinning from ear to ear,

"What's going on in here?" Kira asked.

"Mom, Aiden pinched me."

"It's true, Aunty Kira. Aiden pinched her." Allie said earnestly.

"Aiden? Why did you pinch your sister?" Scott asked his son, going over to the kids. Aiden shrugged and wouldn't look his father in the eye. "Are you going to give me an answer or do I have to send you to your room for timeout?" Still no reply from the young boy so Scott picked him up and carried him up the stairs to his room.

"Are you ready to go Allie?" Stiles asked as Kira checked Naomi's arm.

"Yes Daddy." Allie got up and brushed off her skirt. She grabbed her bag from the floor and took hold of Stiles' hand.

"What do you say?"

"Thanks for letting me stay today, Aunty Kira."

"You're very welcome, Allie. You be good for your dad, okay?" Kira smiled at the small girl.

"Thanks again, Kira." Stiles thanked her and led Allie out to the front door where Scott was just coming down the stairs. "See you later, man."

"See you. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Alright. Come on Allie."

"Bye Uncle Scott."

"Bye Allie."


	2. Chapter 2

When they got home, Allie jumped out of the car first, excitedly chatting about her day at Scott and Kira's. Stiles couldn't really tell what activities went together but he nodded and made agreeable sounds in all the right places..

"Allie, I have something for you but you need to unpack your bag first, okay?" Stiles said as he unlocked the front door.

"Okay. I'll be really quick." She ran upstairs and Stiles could hear her rushing around in her room. He went into his study and put the letter from Malia in his drawer, keeping the one for Allie out on the desk. "Where are you dad?"

"In the study." It was only a moment before Allie appeared in the doorway.

"You said you have something for me?"

"I do, come here." Stiles patted his knee and Allie scrambled up to sit in his lap. "Now, you remember the stories I've told you about your mom?"

"Yeah. She left when I was little."

"She did. Well, because she's been gone so long, I didn't think I'd ever hear from her again. Your Uncle Scott and I searched for her for a very long time."

"But you didn't find her?"

"No. Part of the reason I work at my job now is because I keep hoping I'll find her."

"Why are you telling me?" Allie looked really confused by now.

"Because at work today, I got a letter. I opened it at Uncle Scott's house. It was from your mom. She wrote a very long letter just before she left, explaining why she left. And there's a letter for you too. She was very clear that she wanted you to read it before I did."

"But what if I get stuck on the tricky words?"

"How about you sit over on the couch and read it and I'll sit here so I can help you if you get stuck? Does that sound good?"

"Okay." Stiles handed her the letter addressed to her and she went over to the little couch in the corner of the room and began to read. For her age, she was a very good reader and she managed to get through most of it by herself, only asking for Stiles' help once or twice.

 _My Dear Allie,_

 _How I would love to see you now. You'll be almost eight by the time you read this. I know you probably won't remember me, you barely recognise me now. Your dad has been the one who looks after you the most since you were born._

 _I am writing this letter to you because I want you to know I always have and always will love you, no matter what happens now or in the future. I think of you every day and at night, you're in my dreams._

 _I guess I just want you to be able to forgive me for making you grow up without a mom. As far as I know, your Aunt Kira and Uncle Scott would probably have been a big part of your life, especially since I haven't been around. I hope that one day we can meet again and I can see how much you have grown._

 _Remember, I will always love you Allie._

 _Love, Mom_

 _xxx_

"Daddy, do you think we'll ever see mommy again?" Allie looked up when she finished.

"I don't know, honey. Do remember me telling you about when I met your mom? How she'd been missing for nearly nine years and your Uncle Scott, our friends and I saved her?"

"Yes."

"I think maybe she's gone like that again. Maybe we will find her."

"I hope so. I want to meet her." Stiles smiled and gestured her over. When she was close, he pulled her into a tight hug.

"I know you do. I want to see her again too."

* * *

Two weeks passed and Stiles almost forgot about the letter from Malia. Of course, it was always there in the corner of his mind but the search for possible fae still hiding in Beacon Hills and work took up most of his time.

So, when there was a knock on the door late one night after Allie had gone to bed, Stiles was very confused. He put down the dishes he'd been washing and hurried to the front door, drying his hands on a tea-towel as he went.

On the doorstep were Scott and Liam, both bouncing on their toes, ready to go.

"What are you guys doing?" Stiles asked.

"We've got a trail." Liam informed him

"Trail? On the fae?"

"No. Not fae, but something equally as exciting." Scott said and Stiles frowned.

"I can't go now. Allie's in bed."

"Just bring her to the car, we'll drop her off with Kira on the way. Trust me, you'll want to see this."

Sighing, Stiles tossed the tea-towel aside and hurried up the stairs to Allie's bedroom where he gently picked her up, being sure not to wake her and positioned her so her head rested on his shoulder. Then he grabbed her pillow, she had picked up his same need for having her own pillow to sleep, and went back downstairs.

"She's so cute when she's sleeping." Liam said.

"Yeah. It's when she wakes up that she's a terror." Stiles knew that his daughter had Liam totally wrapped around her little finger. If she ever wanted anything, all she had to do was ask him and he would do it, no questions asked.

"No she's not. She just plays up for you because you don't spoil her like I do." Stiles rolled his eyes and followed the other two out to Liam's car, gently lying Allie on the back seat. Scott and Liam climbed into the two front seats, leaving Stiles to sit in the back with Allie's head resting on his lap. She stirred a little when the car started up but the soothing motion of Stiles rubbing her hair sent her back to sleep.

"So are either of you going to tell me where you're taking me?"

"Nope. You'll see when we get there." Scott said with a smile, glancing back at his friend in the rear-view mirror.

"Fine." Stiles watched out the window until they got to Scott and Kira's place where he carefully picked up Allie again and carried her into the living room, laying her on the couch. Scott scribbled a quick note to Kira in case she got up and found the little girl there and then the three men were off, following some trail that Stiles had no clue about. They took a really circular route to wherever they were going before they ended up in the Beacon Hills Reserve and Stiles couldn't hold it in any longer. "Okay, seriously. Where are you taking me?"

"You'll see. It's just a bit further. Trust us. You'll love it."

"Yeah, you guys drag me out of my warm house, into the freezing woods at almost midnight, I'm sure I'll love it."

"Not your best, dude." Scott said.

"I'm freezing my ass off here, you try coming up with something." The two werewolves just laughed and began to walk off, leaving Stiles no choice but to follow them.

Despite having lived in Beacon Hills all his life and spending a lot of time during high school running around in these woods, Stiles had no idea where they were. He supposed that was part of the reason for the circular route in the car. However, when they came to what looked like a crater in the middle of a clearing, other things around him became clear and he realised where he was.

"The car wreck? Guys, why did you bring me here?" Stiles looked down towards where he knew the car that had served as Malia's home for years would be.

"Just wait a moment." Scott said and Stiles turned to look at him. He appeared to be scrabbling around in the fallen leaves for something while Liam was doing the same thing a few feet away.

"What the hell are you two doing? I know you're werewolves and all but, seriously? Digging in the dirt?"

"Shh." Liam hissed. Giving in, Stiles sat down on the ground, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against a large boulder. He literally sat there, twiddling his thumbs, for almost half an hour before anything happened.

At first Stiles thought it was just wind rustling the leaves but when the sounds became distinctly different, he picked up heavy breathing and slow, deliberate footsteps. Nearby, Scott and Liam had given up scrabbling in the dirt and were simply sitting, staring up at the sky. By now, Stiles was completely confused as he looked around, trying to find the source of the footsteps, seeing as none of the three men in the clearing were walking.


	3. Chapter 3

"I thought you guys might be here." Stiles looked up at the sound of that voice. It was one he hadn't heard in years but he still felt a tug in his heart when he heard it now. Sure enough, standing in the shadows to the side of the clearing was Malia, older, but still the same woman he loved.

"Malia?" From the corner of his eye, Stiles saw Scott and Liam melt away into the shadows, giving him and Malia some time alone and he was grateful for that. "Are you really there?"

"Yes. Stiles, I'm so sorry. I never should have left but once I did, I had to keep going. Coming back would have hurt you more." She took a few steps closer but Stiles stayed where he was, still not sure he could trust his eyes.

"So why come back now? Why come back at all?"

"Because, I've paid my dues to the fae and everything is back in balance."

"You mean..? You didn't…"

"No, I didn't kill anyone. Or turn anyone. What I've done doesn't matter. What matters now is that we're together again."

"How do I know you won't just run away again?"

"You don't. You just have to believe that I'm here to stay."

"I don't know if I can do that. You left me for nearly eight years and now, you're coming back and asking me to trust blindly that you won't run away again?"

"I know it's a lot to ask and I know it will take time to go back to how it was…"

"How it was? Malia, so much has changed since you left. Our daughter is seven years old. Scott and Kira got married and have their own kids. Liam graduated from college and works with my dad. I know they probably don't sound like big things but looking back to how everything was back then, the only thing that's the same is that we're involved with the supernatural."

"I know. That was a bad choice of words. I want to get to know you. And Allie. And all the others. As you are now. I want to know who you've become. I want to be a part of your life again."

"I'm willing to let you back in, if we can take it slow. I don't want to dive right in again, only to have you suddenly disappear on me again."

"I promise, I won't." Malia took a few more steps forward, almost closing the distance between them and Stiles could finally once again smell the deep earthy smell of her and he couldn't hold himself back any more. He closed the distance and wrapped his arms around her, loving the way she fit perfectly against him as their lips met for the first time in years.

It seemed as if the whole world melted around them and they were the only ones there in that moment. That one perfect moment that seemed to heal the gaping hole that had been left in both of their hearts when Malia left. Neither of them noticed a faint blue glow off to the side, or heard the soft crunch of leaves as Scott and Liam returned, having grown bored with waiting by the car.

"Ahem." Liam cleared his throat and the two jumped apart, a red blush creeping up their cheeks. "Um, Stiles, unless you haven't noticed, the sun will be coming up soon and Allie will be wondering where you are if she wakes up at Scott and Kira's."

"Oh, uh, yep. Um, just give me a second. I'll meet you at the car." Stiles said, rubbing a hand over his face. He hadn't noticed the time going by and realised now that Allie would probably be scared if she woke up and he wasn't around, with apparently no explanation. He looked at Malia. "Do you, um, do you want to come with me? I mean, to see Allie?"

"Are you sure? I thought we were taking things slowly."

"We are. We don't have to tell her who you are just yet. Why don't we let her get used to you being around before we tell her. I can get Scott and the others to not call you by your name when she's around." Malia smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Sounds like a plan to me. She took hold of his hand and followed him through the woods towards where Scott and Liam were waiting with the car. Well, Scott was waiting. Liam was bouncing on his toes again, eager to go. Stiles rolled his eyes and gave the Beta a gentle shove to get into the car before climbing in himself in the back seat with Malia.


	4. Chapter 4

The trip back to Scott's house was silent, with all four occupants of the car deep in their own thoughts. The sun was just starting to show on the horizon when they reached the house and all four piled out, yawning.

"Malia, you stay here. I'll go get Allie. She's probably still sleeping anyway." Stiles said and Malia nodded, leaning against the door of the car beside Liam.

Inside, Stiles once again picked up his daughter but this time she woke and grumbled tiredly.

"Daddy, go away."

"Shh, sweetie. Go back to sleep." Stiles whispered, pushing her head down onto his shoulder where she whimpered a little and went back to sleep. There was no sign of Kira or the twins yet so Scott waved goodbye from the front door as they pulled away from the kerb, Liam driving.

Malia was almost spellbound watching her daughter sleep in Stiles' arms the rest of the ride home. She could hardly believe that this little girl was the same one she'd left behind seven years ago.

After waving Liam off, Stiles led Malia inside and up to Allie's room where he put her back in her bed. She didn't stir but Stiles knew it wouldn't be long before she woke up again. He checked the time and saw that it was almost seven.

"I should call in to work. There's no way I can go in today." He muttered as he went downstairs, Malia following silently.

"Stiles?"

"Hmm?"

"What is your job? You said before that Liam's a cop and I know Scott's a veterinarian but you never said what you do."

"Oh. Um, I'm, er, I work at the FBI."

"FBI? I thought you hated the FBI? I mean with Scott's dad working there and all."

"Well, after you left and my dad couldn't find any leads, I switched college majors and went into training to join. I wanted to find you."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Um, why don't you make yourself comfortable while I call in to work? I'll get started on breakfast in a little bit."

"Okay." Malia wandered around a little, looking at the place she had once called home. There was an array of photographs decorating the living room, each one depicting a young girl in various stages of growth. Sometimes Stiles was in them too, sometimes Scott, Kira and Liam made an appearance. There was a few with two children Malia didn't recognise but she assumed were the twins Stiles had mentioned earlier. The one thing that tied the photos together was that in all of them, everyone was smiling but there was a sadness behind each smile, as if the person wearing it had lost something or someone recently.

"She's grown up a lot." Malia jumped at the sound of Stiles' voice. She hadn't heard him finish his phone call and come into the living room.

"I can see. Does she remember me?" Stiles shook his head.

"No. She knows about you, from stories though."

"Did she read the letter? Did you?"

"Yes. We both read them. I had to help her a little with hers but she read most of it by herself."

"So she's a good reader?"

"Very good. She's the best in her class."

"So she got your brains then."

"Not so much. She's not great at solving problems."

"She's only seven. She'll get there."

"Maybe. Are you hungry? I should start breakfast."

"Yeah, a little. What are you making?"

"Just toast or something. Allie's got school today so nothing fancy." Stiles couldn't help but notice the smile playing on the corner of Malia's lips. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just, so many times, I pictured you raising our daughter but it seems surreal actually seeing it."

"You haven't seen anything yet. She's not even awake yet." As Stiles spoke, he heard the tell-tale squeak of Allie's bedroom door opening and knew it would be only seconds before the little girl appeared. "Remember, she doesn't know who you are. I'll just tell her you're a friend visiting for a while."

"Okay." Malia sat at the kitchen table, resting her chin on her hand as she watched Stiles move around the kitchen easily, pulling things out of cupboards and putting things away. She glanced up as Allie came into the room slowly, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"Morning daddy."

"Good morning, sweetie. Did you have a good sleep?" Stiles hugged her as she came close kissing the top of her head.

"Yep. Is that breakfast?"

"Sure is. Can you go set the table for me?" Allie nodded and turned around to do as asked and finally spotted Malia sitting there.

"Daddy, there's someone sitting at our table." She whispered, cowering backwards towards him a little.

"It's okay, honey. She's an old friend who's coming to visit for a little while."

"Oh." A smile appeared on the little girl's face and she came over to Malia. "Hi. I'm Allie."

"Hi Allie. My name is, er…" Malia froze for a second, unsure whether to use her real name or not.

"Lydia. Her name is Lydia." Stiles supplied in a hurry.

"Where are you from, Lydia?" Allie didn't seem to have noticed the small stumble as she continued on with her task of setting the table as she talked to Malia.

"Well, I grew up here in Beacon Hills. That's how I know your dad. But for the past few years I've been living all over the place."

"Cool. Are you going to stay here?"

"I don't know about here, as in in this house but I'm definitely staying in Beacon Hills."

"Of course you're staying here. I wouldn't dream of making you stay in a hotel or something." Stiles said as he came over with a plate, piled with freshly cooked toast. Malia smiled at him and took the jar of honey that Allie was trying to open.

"There you go, Allie."

"Wow. You're strong. Like Uncle Scott." Malia looked at her and opened her mouth, but stopped, unsure how to respond. Luckily, Stiles once again came to her rescue.

"Allie, less talking, more eating. You've got school soon. After school you can ask Ma-Lydia more questions, okay?"

"Okay." The kitchen fell into silence as they ate. A clock ticked in the background and cars began to go by the front door as the rest of the town began their day.

When breakfast was finished, Stiles got up to clear everything away but Malia stopped him

"I'll clean up. It's the least I can do. You go get Allie ready for school."

"Alright. Come on Allie, let's get you ready to go." Grinning, Allie jumped up and rushed up stairs, leaving Stiles shaking his head and following with a quiet laugh.

"Daddy, where is Lydia from?" Allie asked when they were alone in her room. Stiles sat on her bed while she searched her closet for her outfit of the day.

"She told you. She grew up here."

"Yeah, but where did she come from now?"

"I don't know. She hasn't told me. But we were very good friends back when she lived here so when she asked if she could stay, I said yes."

"Does she know Uncle Scott and Aunty Kira?"

"Yep. And Uncle Liam. We were all good friends.

"So why did she leave?"

"Er…" Stiles thought quickly to come up with a believable story but Allie became distracted with the belt on the jeans she'd chosen so he called her over, hoping to distract her. "Come here, sweetie. I'll fix it."

"Thanks daddy." She gave a little twirl when he was done, to show off the finished ensemble and he grinned. "Hey daddy, can I have Daniel over after school?"

"Who's Daniel?"

"He's my friend. We both like to play on the monkey-bars."

"Oh. Well, if his parents say it's okay, then sure."

"Thank you." With a quick hug, she grabbed her backpack from the floor and took his hand, dragging him down the stairs. She glanced at the kitchen where Malia was still cleaning and waved a quick goodbye.

"Bye Lydia."

"Bye Allie. Have a good day at school." Malia waved at her and smiled as she skipped into the garage.

"I won't be gone long. When I get back, we can head over to Scott and Kira's if you want. I know Kira will love to see you again."

"Okay. The kitchen will be clean when you get back."

"Thanks. Oh, and help yourself to the shower and everything. You remember where everything is?"

"I think so. See you soon."

"See you."

By the time Stiles returned home thirty minutes later, the kitchen was spotless and he could hear the shower upstairs running. While waiting for Malia to come back downstairs, Stiles went into the study and opened his laptop, continuing on with his research on fae. When he and Malia had bought the house all those years ago, Stiles had brought his murder board to put in the study so they could continue to do research on supernatural creatures if they had to. Currently, it held dozens of pages on fae, what they looked like, what their strengths and weaknesses were, anything that could give them an advantage.

"Wow. Still as good as you were back then, I see." Malia's voice interrupted him and he spun around in his chair to look at her. She stood in the doorway, wet hair hanging around her face and arms crossed over her chest.

"And I see you found your old clothes."

"Yep. I thought you would have thrown everything away by now."

"Not a chance. I wanted to keep on to the hope that one day you'd come back. Throwing it away made it seem so much more real."

"That's sweet. What are you working on, anyway?"

"Oh, um... we wanted to find out if the fae were still here after we got your letter."

"I don't think they stayed. I'm pretty sure that when I left, they left to go and tear apart some other family."

"Is that seriously all they do?"

"Apparently. So, are we going over to Scott and Kira's?"

"Yeah. Just let me shower first, okay? I'll be quick."

"Sure. I'll just wait in the living room." Stiles shut his laptop and sprinted up the stairs, two at a time. In the shower, the rushing water hitting his skin felt so good after the events of the night. It almost made it feel as if it hadn't happened. The only thing that kept it real was the thought that Malia was waiting down in the living room for him.

When he couldn't stall any longer, Stiles shut off the water and hurriedly dried off. He threw on the first clothes he could find and grabbed his car keys from the dresser in the bedroom.

"Malia? You ready to go?" He called down the stairs.

"Yeah." She appeared in the hallway and stood by the base of the stairs, waiting for him. He carefully walked down the stairs, breathing slowly.

"You know, I missed this."

"This?"

"You standing there, waiting for me. You have no idea how many times I walked down these stairs, imagining you at the bottom."

"Really?"

"I know, I know, it's stupid."

"No. It's not. I actually think it's cute." Malia placed a hand on his cheek, rubbing the pad of her thumb under his eye. He raised his own hand to cover hers.

"I never stopped loving you, Malia."

"I never stopped loving you either." For a moment their eyes met before their lips crashed together in a kiss passionate enough to make up for the years spent apart.


	5. Chapter 5

They finally made it to Scott and Kira's about half an hour later and the front door was answered by a very tired looking Scott.

"What?"

"That's nice. It's not my fault you were up at all hours last night." Stiles said with a laugh, pushing past his grumpy friend into the hallway.

"Well, you did spend ages talking. The plan was that you would meet and we'd take you back to your place and you could talk there."

"Scott who's at the door?!" Kira yelled from somewhere.

"It's just Stiles." Scott yelled back.

"Just Stiles? I like that." Stiles scoffed with an eye roll. Meanwhile, Malia just stood by, watching the two men banter.

"Hey Stiles, I thought you weren't coming over until-" Kira came out of the living room but stopped short when she saw Malia standing there. "Malia?"

"Hey Kira."

"Oh my god. Guys, why didn't you tell me you'd found her?" Kira rushed forward to hug her long-lost friend in excitement.

"Well until last night, I didn't know she was back either. Scott and Liam found her." Stiles said.

"Actually I found them. I was planning on coming back anyway but I wanted to know how your life was before I turned up on your doorstep."

"You what?" Stiles was stunned.

"I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be hurting you more by just appearing. I had no way of knowing if you'd moved on, met another woman. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Wha-?"

"Who cares who found who? We're all together again." Kira interrupted Stiles. "Now I can tell all of you at once."

"Tell us what?" Scott turned to look at his wife in confusion. Kira simply smiled at him.

"Well, let's just say, our little family is going to get bigger soon." For a moment, Scott stared at her, not quite understanding.

"Huh?"

"Dude, she's telling you she's pregnant." Stiles said and Scott's face broke into a grin.

"Really? You're pregnant? That's amazing!" He grabbed Kira in a tight hug and spun her around.

"So you waited for me to come home to expand your family?" Malia joked, hugging her friend when Scott finally let go of her.

"Congrats guys. I'm sure Aiden and Naomi will be excited to have a little brother or sister to play with." Stiles said, giving his best friend a hug.

"They don't know yet, so don't tell them." Kira said suddenly and both Stiles and Malia nodded.

"Speaking of not knowing things, we're not telling Allie who Malia is just yet. I don't want to get her hopes up that Malia is staying until we know."

"I already told you I'm staying." Malia muttered.

"I know but that's what you used to say back then. Anyway, for now, Allie knows her as Lydia, an old friend from school."

"Lydia? Really, dude? That's the name you came up with?"

"I was put on the spot. It's the first name I thought of."

"Scott." Kira scolded him and smiled at Stiles. "Of course we'll be careful around Allie. We just need to make sure Liam's on board too."

"Yeah. He's usually the one with the big mouth."

"Uncle Stiles!" Stiles turned around just in time to catch a giggling Naomi as she sprinted from the kitchen.

"Hey Missy. How come you're at home?" He spun the little girl around in a circle, kissing her forehead.

"My tummy hurt when I woke up so mommy and daddy said I should stay home today."

"Ah. Well, maybe we should stop spinning in circles, huh?" Stiles put her back on her feet.

"That's okay. I'm feeling better now anyway. Who's your friend, Uncle Stiles?" Stiles turned to glance at Malia who was just watching the exchange quietly.

"This is Lydia. She used to go to school with your mom and dad and me. She's going to stay with Allie and I for a while."

"Oh. Hi Lydia. I'm Naomi. My brother Aiden isn't here because he didn't feel sick today."

"Very nice to meet you Naomi. It's good to know your brother was feeling good today." Malia said, smiling at the little girl.

"Nai, why don't you go into the living room and finish watching your movie? We'll be in the kitchen, okay?" Scott ruffled the little girl's hair and she squealed, fixing it before nodding and disappearing. "Sorry, Malia. She's a little excitable today."

"Totally okay. I missed so much while I was gone. It's nice to see the little things." Stiles took hold of Malia's hand as they followed Scott and Kira into the kitchen where they sat around the island bench, talking.

Most of the morning was spent catching up on everything that had happened in Beacon Hills and Stiles trying to coax out of Malia where she'd been living. She refused to tell him though, simply changing the topic every time he brought it up. None of them realised how much time went by until Scott's phone began to ring. Frowning a little, he answered it.

"Hello?...Oh, hi Mrs Golding...what's that?...oh my gosh...yeah, no, I'm so sorry, I'll be there in about ten minutes...okay, bye." He snapped the phone shut and grinned at the others. "Looks like time flies when you're having fun. I have to go and pick up Aiden from kinder."

"Oh crap. Allie's got a friend coming over. We should probably head off too, Malia." Stiles jumped up.

"Okay." The four of them walked out the front door where there was a round of hugs all round before Stiles and Malia jumped into Stiles' car and drove off.


	6. Chapter 6

At five-thirty, Allie's friend Daniel was picked up and once again, the small, broken family sat in the kitchen together. Allie was busy telling Malia all about her friends at school while Stiles cooked dinner for them all.

"And then he fell off the tallest monkey bars and when he got up, he said his arm really hurt so I got a teacher and…"

"Allie, can you set the table while you're talking?" Stiles interrupted her.

"I'll do it." Malia said, jumping up.

"Thanks, Lydia." The little girl grinned at Malia and continued her story as if she hadn't been interrupted. "The teacher said we had to call an ambulance because he broke his arm. He was in the hospital for two days but he didn't come back to school for the rest of the week."

"Did he have a cast on his arm when he came back?"

"Yup. And everyone wrote stuff on it. Even the teachers."

"What did you write?"

"I wrote that I was sorry I made him fall off and I hoped he got better soon."

"That's very sweet Allie."

"Allie, did you tell Lydia about the time you fell off your bike?" Stiles asked as he carried three plates of spaghetti to the table. Allie shook her head.

"No. Do you want to hear the story, Lydia?"

"Sure. You can tell me all the stories you like." Malia smiled as she sat down next to Stiles. With a giggle, Allie launched into her next story. Stiles and Malia just listened. When they both reached for the cheese, their hands touched and both of them jerked away. Stiles smiled quickly and passed the cheese to Malia who smiled back.

"Daddy?" Allie caught his attention and he turned to look at her.

"Yes?"

"I said I saw granddad today."

"You saw granddad? Where?"

"At school. I was walking past the office and he was talking to Mr Peterson. I waved but he didn't see me." Stiles frowned. What was his father doing at Allie's school?

"Maybe we'll go and visit on the weekend."

"Yes please." Allie grinned. "Lydia you should come and meet my granddad. He's the sheriff."

"I know. He was the sheriff when I was here last."

"Oh. So you already know granddad?"

"Kind of." Malia smiled at the crestfallen look on Allie's face. "But I will still come along anyway, if that's okay with you, Stiles."

"Of course. I'm sure Dad will love to see you again."

The room fell into silence as they finished their meal and Allie got up first to clear the table. Together, just like years ago, Stiles and Malia cleaned the kitchen while Allie finished off some homework in the living room.

"Dad! Who was the first emperor of Rome?" Allie yelled after a while and Stiles tilted his head to one side, thinking.

"Um, I'm not sure. Why don't you grab my laptop and we'll look it up?" He put away the last of the dishes and came out into the living room where Allie was just setting the laptop on the coffee table. "Okay, let's have a look…"

"What's this for, Allie?" Malia asked, coming in and sitting on the couch.

"We're doing some history at school and my teacher gave us a bunch of questions that we have to answer."

"Sounds interesting. History was never my best subject at school."

"Nothing was your best subject." Stiles muttered and Mali shot him a look.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what it means, Mal-Lydia." Stiles stopped himself just in time before he let anything else slip. Malia fell silent, occasionally glaring at him as he helped Allie finish her homework. When they finished, Stiles instructed Allie to go upstairs and get ready for bed.

"Watch yourself, Stilinski. If you're not careful, you'll let slip my name and then your whole plan goes down." Malia said.

"Well, if you weren't so touchy over the whole school thing…"

"I lived as a coyote for eight years. Then I was thrown back into school and expected to be at the same level as the rest of you."

"It was more than a decade ago, Malia. You need to let it go if you're going to come back into our lives."

"Well don't bring it up like that."

"I didn't. You did."

"I was just trying to communicate with my daughter."

"No. For now, she's not your daughter. You left her for seven years. Until she's ready, she's my daughter. You don't have any claim to her."

"Genetically, I do."

"Maybe but emotionally, she's just a little girl whose mother left her when she was a baby. She needs time to get used to you before we drop the bombshell that you're her mother."

"Fine." Malia huffed and averted her eyes.

"I'm going to put her to bed. Do you want to say goodnight?"

"I don't want to overstep your boundaries." She said and Stiles heard the snarky tone in her voice and rolled his eyes.

"Be that way then." He turned on his heel and marched up the stairs to where Allie was sitting on her bed, flipping through one of her favourite picture books. "Hey sweetie, what're you reading?"

"Where the Wild Things Are. Why were you arguing with Lydia?"

"Did you hear that? I'm sorry honey." Stiles moved to sit next to her. "There's a lot of things Lydia and I need to work out. We haven't seen each other in a very long time and things weren't all that great when she left."

"So you're not mad at her?" Stiles sighed and tried to decide how best to explain.

"Well, I am a little bit mad at her but not for the reasons you think. There will probably be a few arguments before everything gets settled but I want you to know that everything will be okay."

"Okay. Can you read to me?" She passed the book to him and he nodded, shifting so that both of them were leaning against the headboard.

"Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak…" They dove into the story, neither of them noticing Malia standing in the doorway, silently watching as they laughed through the book with Stiles acting out certain parts and Allie adding in her own bits here and there.

* * *

By the time Stiles finished reading, Allie was almost falling asleep so he put the book away and tucked her in, brushing her hair aside so he could kiss her cheek.

"Goodnight, Allie."

"'Night Daddy. I love you."

"I love you too sweetie. Sweet dreams." Stiles switched off the light and made his way down to the living room where Malia was busy shuffling blankets around on the couch. "What're you doing?"

"Making a place to sleep."

"You don't have to do that. You can sleep in our room."

"And where will you sleep?"

"In our room."

"And what happens when Allie comes in and sees us in the same bed?"

"Nothing. She doesn't know how close we were. We can just tell her that-"

"That what? You were cheating on her mother? That that's why she left?"

"No. We can tell her that we used to date, which is technically true, but we don't need to mention anything about her mother."

"And if she asks?"

"Stop making this so hard. I'm trying to tell you I want you to come to bed, next to me, where you should have been for the past seven years. I don't want to go another night without you beside me." Stiles crossed the room in three quick strides and took hold of her hands.

"Stiles, I-"

"No. Malia, I don't care if Allie sees. We'll think of something if and when the time comes. She doesn't really come in anyway, unless I've slept in."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I've gone to bed every night for the past seven years, alone, wanting you there beside me. I'm not going to bed tonight knowing you're down here."

"Okay." Stiles leaned forward and kissed her softly before leading her up to their bedroom. Neither of them bothered to get changed, simply opting to strip down to their underwear and scrambled under the covers. For a while, they lay facing each other, just enjoying being near each other again but Stiles' eyes began to flutter closed after a while and it wasn't long before he was fast asleep, one arm pulling Malia close as she lay her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat and slow breathing.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day Stiles returned to work, leaving Malia alone in the house with instructions to pick up Allie from the school at three.

"Yo, Stiles. I just heard, Malia's back in town?" Jacob sprinted over when Stiles sat down at his desk.

"Yeah. She just showed up the other night."

"Any explanation as to where she's been?"

"You know, it's kind of complicated and for now I'm just happy she's back, however long that will be."

"Optimistic. Well, keep it up, we've got a new case."

"Okay, I'll be in the debrief in a minute." Jacob nodded and hurried off, leaving Stiles to finish off the paperwork he had left behind two days ago.

He barely made it back to the office for the rest of the day, instead spending the day chasing some crazy lunatic through the streets of Sacramento. When he finally got back, there was a message waiting for him from Scott.

"Stiles, just letting you know that Allie's at our place with Malia. Apparently, Malia had some sort of panic attack at the school when she picked up Allie. They're okay now but you might want to pick them up on your way home, otherwise I can drop them off for you."

"Oh crap." Stiles sighed and grabbed his jacket and phone, heading out the door before any of his co-workers and drove to Scott's house as fast as he could, without breaking any speed limits.

"Allie?" He yelled as he all but ran through the front door of Scott's house. Scott rushed out to the hallway and stopped him.

"She's okay. They're both okay. Just calm down, it was only an accident."

"I know, I know. I shouldn't have just expected everything to go smoothly straight away."

"We all have to take it easy. So much has changed and there's no doubt she will have gone through things too while she was gone."

"Yeah. I guess. Do you wanna let me go now?"

"Sorry." Scott let go and stepped back, letting him past into the living room where Kira was sitting next to Malia who was staring blankly at the wall. Allie was on the floor by Kira's feet, anxiously watching as Kira tried to snap Malia out of her trance.

"Allie? You okay?" The little girl looked up at the sound of her father's voice and ran over to him.

"I'm okay daddy, but something's wrong with Lydia. When she came to pick me up, she fell on the ground and started crying." Now Allie herself began to cry a little so Stiles pulled her into a hug. "I wasn't sure what to do so I found her phone in her bag and called Uncle Scott."

"You did the right thing, honey. I'm very proud of you."

"You've taught her well Stiles." Scott murmured from the doorway.

"Daddy, what's wrong with Lydia?" Allie asked and Stiles glanced up at Malia.

"I don't know. Why don't you go and play with Aiden and Naomi for a little while?"

"Okay." Allie got up and left the room, leaving Stiles kneeling on the floor by Malia. He took hold of her hands and her eyes darted towards him. He recognised the fear in them and moved his hands to cup her face.

"Malia. Look at me. Everything is okay."

"I don't...I…" Malia stumbled over her words, trying to get them out.

"Shh, it's okay."

"No. No, it's not. I...they...they're here..I saw them…"

"Who? Malia, who did you see?"

"They know I'm back.

"Who knows you're back?"

"The fae. There was one at the school." At this Malia burst into tears and all Stiles could do was pull her close and hug her until the sobs subsided.

"Oh my god." Kira glanced at Scott. They knew this probably meant something was coming.

"Malia, we're not going to let them hurt you or us again, okay?" Stiles assured her, wishing he could hold her tighter. "We'll figure something out, I promise."

* * *

Eventually, Malia calmed down and Stiles took her home, a worried Allie quietly following. Back home, Stiles led Malia up to their room, making sure she was comfortable in bed before going back down to Allie.

"Daddy, is Lydia okay?"

"She will be, honey. She just had a bit of a shock, that's all."

"Okay."

"Do you have any homework to finish?"

"No. I did it at Uncle Scott's." Stiles raised an eyebrow at that but let it go.

"Alright, come help me make dinner then. Do you want sausages?"

"Yeah." In silence, side-by-side, the two of them made dinner, the only sounds in the house being the occasional crashing of pots and pans as they worked. When the food was made, Stiles left Allie to put it on the table and headed upstairs, looking for Malia. He found her sitting up in bed, staring at a photo in her hands.

"Malia?"

"Hmm?"

"Dinner's ready. Are you going to come and eat?"

"Yeah."

"What're you looking at?"

"This photo of you and Allie. I guess she's about four here." She showed him the picture. Immediately he recognised it as his favourite. He and Scott had taken Allie and the twins to the park one day and most of the time they sat on a nearby bench, talking and keeping an eye on the playing children. But when Allie fell in the sandpit, Stiles had rushed over and held her close until she stopped crying. Then he found himself dragged into building sandcastles with her and they ended up building a huge one, after which, Scott had taken a picture with Stiles and Allie sitting proudly beside it. Only seconds later, Aiden had crashed straight through the castle, crushing it completely.

"She was. That was a great day. Where'd you find that?"

"Under your pillow."

"Oh. I guess I must have put it there at some point. Can't remember why."

"It's nice. It's things like this that I missed out on that upset me. I can see how much she loves you and looks up to you. All I ever wanted was for her to look at me like that."

"She will. Once she gets used to you, she will."

"But all those years…"

"Are the past. It doesn't matter what happened then. What matters is what happens now." Stiles crossed the room and took the photo from her. "We can make new memories now, ones with you in them."

"I'd like that."

"So would I. Now, let's get back downstairs before Allie comes looking." He grinned and she laughed. SHe took hold of his hand and they made their way to the dining room where Allie was already halfway through her meal.

"Sorry, I was hungry." The little girl apologised but Malia just laughed.

"It's okay, Allie. I would have done the same thing." The rest of the evening passed uneventfully with the little family settling in to watch an episode of Stiles and Allie's favourite TV show before Allie went to bed. Tonight, both Malia and Stiles went up to tuck her in and Malia sat on the end of Allie's bed to watch as Stiles read to her.


	8. Chapter 8

For a month, things slowly smoothed over. Malia transitioned back into normal life, getting a job at a local diner as a waitress. If Stiles finished late at work, Allie would walk the two blocks from school to the diner and wait until Malia finished to take her home.

About a week after Malia's return, Stiles finally took her to see his father who was very pleased to see her. For a while, he pestered her with questions about where she'd lived but Allie soon stopped him by asking her own list of questions as per usual. Malia just laughed at the look on the Sheriff's face as he struggled to keep up with the little girl.

Scott and Kira formally announced their pregnancy at a pack meeting and Liam introduced everyone to his latest girlfriend. Scott rolled his eyes at that, knowing it wouldn't last very long, just like none of the young beta's relationships had lasted over the years.

As for Stiles and Malia, they continued to share their bed every night, sometimes cuddling, sometimes talking.

One night, they lay together, Stiles resting his head on his hand and Malia half draped over his chest.

"I think we should tell Allie." He said suddenly. She raised her head to look at him.

"What?"

"I think we should tell her who you really are. I think she's ready."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We both are. I want you back in our lives, as you should be." She leaned down to kiss him, putting all her love for him into the kiss.

"Stiles?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Malia." Their eyes locked for a moment before their lips crashed together and for the first time in years, they were together again completely.

* * *

Being that the next day was a Saturday, Malia only had work in the morning for a few hours and so Stiles decided to make a special lunch for them so they could tell Allie together. Luckily, Liam was happy to occupy the little girl while Stiles worked.

"Uncle Liam, where's Molly?" Allie asked as the two sat on the floor of the living room.

"Um, she's gone." Liam admitted and Stiles, who was walking by just then let out a snort.

"That lasted less than Tiffany."

"It's not my fault. I'm trying not to end up like Scott and Allison by telling her the truth early on."

"Whoa. You've been telling all these girls that you're…?"

"No. I never even get that far. I just get to the whole, 'I may be called away at any second to save the world' bit and they run screaming."

"Don't worry Uncle Liam. Daddy hasn't ever had a girlfriend."Allie said. Liam froze, not knowing how Stiles wanted to respond.

"I had a girlfriend, sweetie, a long time ago. She's your mother."

"Well yeah. But I meant since my mom left."

"I…"

"Your dad was hoping your mom would come back." Liam interjected. Allie raised an eyebrow but otherwise didn't question, instead turning back to the colouring book she was working on. Stiles mouthed 'thank-you' to Liam and continued on.


	9. Chapter 9

At mid-day, Malia stood in the small staff room of the diner and quickly shrugged off her apron, shoving into her locker. She glanced back into the main dining area and noticed one of the diners at a nearby booth had a faint blue glow around them. Almost marching out, she went to go and demand what they were doing showing their aura around humans when she caught sight of her eyes in the reflection off a mirror by the door. Her eyes were blue.

She blinked a little until her eyes changed back to their normal colour and glanced back towards the person with the aura and noticed the glow was gone. For a moment, she considered still going out but ultimately decided to let it go and began the walk home.

Coming in the front door, she almost crashed into Liam who noticed that something was off and held onto her shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"There was a fae at the diner. I was about to leave when I noticed the glow."

"Did they do something?"

"No. I realised my eyes had gone coyote, that's why I saw the glow."

"Malia, listen. Scott and I will deal with it. I'll head over to his place now. You just need to focus on you and Stiles and Allie for the afternoon, okay?"

"Okay." Malia nodded and took a deep breath.

"Lydia!" Allie appeared and practically sprinted down the hallway. Malia laughed and hugged the little girl.

"Hey Allie. Did you have fun this morning with Liam?"

"Yup. We coloured in my disney colouring book."

"I'm getting good at this colouring stuff. I was always that kid who went over the lines growing up." Liam said and Malia raised an eyebrow.

"I'm glad to see a seven year old is teaching you how to colour in."

"Oh, hey. You're home. I didn't hear you come in." Stiles came out from the kitchen and grinned at the sight in front of him.

"I'd better get going. Have fun guys." Liam said, waving at Stiles and Malia and ruffling Allie's hair "Catch you later Al."

"Bye Uncle Liam. Keep practicing your colouring."

"I will. Maybe I'll bring over something I've done next time I'm over."

"Okay."

Lunch was a quiet meal in the Stilinski house, the sounds of plates clattering was the only sound in the dining room until Stiles sighed.

"Allie, we have some things we need to talk about." He began, reaching one hand over to hold Malia's. "Some of it might be very confusing so you can ask as many questions as you need but just let us get everything out first, okay?"

"Sure."

"I guess we should start with the simple things first." Stiles looked over at Malia who paused for a second before nodding slightly and turning to look at Allie.

"My name isn't Lydia. Your dad and I did have a friend called Lydia, a long time ago but she died."

"What is your name then?"

"My name is Malia. Pretty much everything else we've told you about me is true, I did used to live here and I was very close friends with your dad and Scott and all the others." Allie was silent, just looking between the two of them but there was no confusion in her eyes, just a look that clearly said 'Keep going'.

"Malia and I, we were more than friends. We dated all through senior year and college, at least, what little of college she was there for. In our second year, Malia ran away. We looked for her for years but couldn't find her."

"What he's trying to say, Allie, is that...that…" Malia couldn't finish, her words getting stuck at the back of her throat so Stiles took her hand and finished for her.

"Allie, Malia is your mom." For a moment, there was silence in the room. Allie looked first at Malia and then at Stiles before she burst into tears and ran from the room. It was not the reaction either of the had been hoping for so to say Stiles and Malia were confused would be an understatement. Malia herself looked about to cry so Stiles stood up, still holding her hand.

"I'll talk to her. She's probably just overwhelmed." He kissed the top of her head and went upstairs to Allie's room. The door was shut but he could hear her sniffling inside.

"Allie? Can I come in?" He knocked on the door quietly.

"Yeah." Gently pushing the door open, Stiles went in and found her sitting cross-legged on her bed, hugging a pillow. Tears were still falling and his heart broke to see her so upset so he did the only thing he could think of; he sat beside her, pulling her close and just letting her cry.

"Shh, it's okay sweetie, everything's okay." He whispered, rubbing his hand over her arm.

"I'm just scared, daddy." She finally said when she stopped crying.

"Scared of what?"

"I have to tell you something."

"Honey, you can tell me anything you like. If there's a problem, I will do anything I can to fix it for you, I promise."

"I don't think you can fix this, daddy."

"How about you tell me and I'll see what I can do?" Allie nodded and took a breath before starting.

"The other day,when I was at Uncle Scott's house, I was playing by the pool with Naomi. We were throwing a ball to each other but Naomi threw it too far and it went into the pool. It was near the edge so I thought I could get it if I layed down. So I did and I was reaching to get the ball but I looked down at the water and I could see myself, like a mirror." She paused for a second and glanced up at him, as if afraid to go on. In response, he smiled slightly and nodded so she continued. "Daddy, my eyes changed colour. They were yellow."

"Yellow?"

"Yes. The bit that's normally brown was yellow. I started screaming and Naomi thought I was falling in so she went to get Uncle Scott. When he came out, he helped me up. I guess he saw my eyes too but he wasn't scared. He just told Naomi to go and play with Aiden for a while. Then he sat with me for a bit so I could calm down and he told me all these stories about werewolves and werecoyotes and other things that I can't remember."

"Banshees, kanimas…" Stiles muttered and Allie nodded.

"Yeah. He told me that my mom was a werecoyote so I probably was something too, that's why my eyes could change but he didn't know why they changed then."

"Allie, what your Uncle Scott told you is true. Your mom, Malia, is a werecoyote. When we found out you were coming, we weren't sure if you would be something too or not because I'm completely human. When nothing ever happened during your first year, we thought we'd dodged a bullet but I guess we were wrong."

"So I'm a werecoyote?"

"Not necessarily. It's all very complicated and one day when you're older I will explain it to you but all you need to know for now is that, from now on, things might be a little difficult at times but we'll get through."

"You promise?"

"I promise. Allie, you'll always be my little girl and I will always love you, no matter what, okay?"

"Okay." She sniffled a little and hugged him, crawling into his lap. "Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Is she really my mom? Really and truly?"

"Really and truly. She's your mom."

"Wow."

"Why don't you go down and talk to her? I'm sure she's a bit confused by you running away before."

"Yeah." Allie gave him one last hug and kissed his cheek before heading out the door. Stiles waited a moment before following her. Downstairs, he watched as she stood in the doorway of the kitchen. Malia was sitting with her back to them, her head resting on her hands. He could tell from the way her shoulders shook that she was crying.

Silently, Allie crossed the room until she was standing just behind Malia. She reached out a hand but froze millimetres away from contact and she looked back at Stiles. He nodded encouragingly and she closed the gap, gently putting her hand on Malia's back.

"Mommy?" She tested it out, the word seeming strangely familiar on her tongue. At the sound, Malia looked over at the little girl and smiled.

"Yeah." She slid off her chair and knelt on the ground so she could hug Allie tightly. For a moment Stiles just watched before he joined his little family and they sat together. The air around them felt different, somehow but peaceful, at least until a frantic knocking at the front door interrupted their little family moment.

A little annoyed at the interruption, Stiles stood up first and went over to the door, contemplating screaming at the person outside, at least until he saw Scott and Liam, both with glowing eyes.

"What's going on?"

"We've got something... oh, hey." Scott started,stopping when he saw Malia and Allie come up behind Stiles.

"Hi Scott, Liam." Malia moved to stand beside Stiles and Allie took hold of her hand.

"Oh crap…" Liam was the first to realise what they'd interrupted and he began to tug on Scott's arm. "Let's go, dude."

"But...oh." Scot realised too and Stiles couldn't help but smile at the way the two werewolves just about fell over themselves to get away. They were almost at the road when Allie called out.

"Uncle Scott!" She ran over to him and pulled his hand so he knelt down. She cupped her hand to his ear and leaned over to whisper. "Did you come because of something like my eyes?"

"Kind of. It's very complicated."

"Complicated how?" She wasn't whispering anymore but Scott stayed knelt on the ground.

"I'll tell you everything one day but for now it's too dangerous, okay?" Allie looked a little downcast but nodded.

"Okay." She hugged him and hurried back to Stiles and Malia.


	10. Chapter 10

A week went by and they heard no news of the fae but it was still there at the front of everyone's minds so no-one was surprised when three of them showed up in Stiles and Malia's backyard one afternoon when they were having a pack BBQ.

Allie was playing with Naomi and Aiden in the tree-house stiles had built in the backyard while Kira and Malia sat up on the porch with Liam's new girlfriend, Morgan. By the grill, Scott, Liam and Stiles kept an eye on the food. It was the picture of a perfect afternoon, at least until a shimmer of light by the back fence caught Kira's eye.

"Naomi, Aiden, Allie, go inside for a bit, okay?" She called. Scott looked over at her, confused and she nodded towards the fence where you could just make out the outline of three women. The three kids jumped down from the treehouse and went inside.

"Holy sh-" Morgan stared at the appearing women in shock. Liam rushed over and tried to drag her inside.

"Morgan, come on, I'll explain everything later."

"Liam, get her out of here." Scott called as he and Stiles began to walk over to the fae.

"Liam, what…?" Morgan was still trying to get a good look at what was happening but Liam finally managed to pull her inside and in moments, the others heard his car start up and drive away. He knew they could handle whatever this was and would fill him in later. Right now he had to focus on Morgan and how to explain all this to her.

In the backyard, Kira and Malia had joined Scott and Stiles just as the fae came into clear view. All three were abnormally beautiful with long hair that hung down their backs in waves; blonde, brown and black. Their eyes were deep and soulful but innocent at the same time an the dresses they wore seemed to simply float over them.

"To what do we owe this visit?" Scott asked after a moment.

"We are aware that the balance is off once more." The blonde one answered, clearly the leader.

"Off balance? How? Nothing's changed."

"The small one has changed the balance."

"The small one? Liam's a beta, he can't change anything." Stiles cut across Scott as he tried to ask more questions. This time it was the brunette who answered.

"The small one has changed the balance of the natural and supernatural. This must be remedied immediately." A shout of laughter echoed from the house and Kira gasped.

"Guys, I think they mean Allie."

"No. No, they can't mean Allie, she hasn't done anything…" Malia said, beginning to work herself into a panic.

"The balance must be restored." The blonde one said

"Restored? How do we restore it?" Scott asked, getting increasingly confused.

"The balance must be restored." With that, the fae began to fade away.

"What the hell do they mean the balance must be restored?" Stiles said when they were gone.

"I have no idea but we should probably make sure Allie is watched at all times for the next few weeks, just in case." Scott said.

"Yeah, if they think she's at fault, they might try to hurt her." Kira agreed as they made their way inside.

* * *

A/N: I've got ideas as to where I could take this story but I'm not sure whether to continue or not...what do people think?


	11. Chapter 11

And so, Allie suddenly found herself being followed everywhere. At school, she noticed that the Sheriff was doing more regular visits and when she was at home, she noticed that she was never alone in a room. She brought it up one night after dinner when she, Stiles and Malia were sitting in the living room, the TV playing quietly in the background as they played a game of Monopoly.

"Mommy? Why is everyone so interested in what I'm doing now?"

"What do you mean?" Malia asked

"I mean everyone is following me everywhere all the time."

"Because we just want to make sure you're safe, okay? We've heard that there's some bad people in town at the moment so we're just keeping an eye on you." Stiles explained.

"Bad people like the ones granddad catches? Or bad people like the ones Uncle Scott catches?"

"We're not sure but we just want to make sure nothing happens."

"Okay." They finished their game and then watched an episode of Allie's favourite TV show before her bedtime. Malia was the one to tuck her in tonight and she didn't leave until she was sure Allie was asleep.

"Hey." Stiles was absorbed in some book when Malia finally made it to their room but he looked up when she spoke.

"Hey, that took a while."

"Yeah, she wanted me to read that really long story, the one about the rabbit." She quickly changed into her pyjamas and climbed into bed beside him. Stiles put the book away and rolled onto his side to face her.

"You know, I've been thinking, the fae said that the balance needed to be restored, right?"

"Yeah."

"So that means either a supernatural creature needs to go or a human needs to come, right?"

"I guess so."

"Well, when we found out we were having Allie, we didn't know what she'd be and supposedly it's her becoming supernatural that's unbalanced everything so…"

"You think we should have another kid?"

"I don't see how it could hurt. There's a fifty-fifty chance that another kid we have will be human, seeing as I'm human."

"Do you really think it would work?" Malia reached for his hand and twined their fingers together.

"Maybe. There's no harm in trying, right?"

"Should we tell Scott and the others?"

"Yeah. We're supposed to be having a pack meeting tomorrow so we can discuss it then." Stiles untangled their fingers and moved his hand to her waist, letting his fingers dance lightly over the bare skin he found there. She ginned and leaned over to kiss him, her own hands finding residence on his back. They deepened the kiss but were interrupted by a quiet knock on the door and only just jumped apart in time before Allie pushed it open and came in.

"Daddy, there's something in my room."

"What's in there?" Stiles asked, reaching out to her.

"There's a monster, daddy." Sighing, Stiles threw off the bed covers and followed Allie back to her room. He checked her closet and under her bed, even looking out the window and assured her that nothing was there.

"Are you sure, daddy?"

"100% sure. there's nothing here. Go back to sleep, okay?"

"Okay. Goodnight, daddy." Stiles kissed her and switched off the light, heading back to Malia.

"Does she do that a lot?" Malia asked, almost straight away.

"No. She used to, especially for a few months when she was four. After Scott told me the twins were doing the same thing, we figured out Liam was watching them through the window and scaring them. You should have heard the chewing-out Scott gave him for that." Stiles laughed at the memory.

"I thought Liam loved them."

"He does. He was just messing around with them. I don't think he understood how hard we worked to get the three of them in bed every night. We soon sorted that out by getting him to take care of all three for a few nights."

"I kinda wish I'd seen that. I can't imagine it went very well."

"No, when we came to pick the kids up, we found them in the living room with the TV going and Liam passed out on the couch." Malia laughed and was about to say something when a piercing scream echoed through the house.


	12. Chapter 12

At the same time, they jumped out of bed and sprinted to Allie's room. Pushing open the door, nothing seemed out of order at first but then their eyes moved to the unoccupied bed. The sheets were tossed back as if Allie had gotten out but there was no sign of the little girl anywhere in the room.

"Allie?" Malia asked, switching her eyes to coyote and scanning the room. There was no answer.

"Malia look…" Stiles pointed at the window where the curtains were flapping gently in the breeze.

"What?"

"That was closed when I left before."

"Oh my…" She rushed to the window, leaning out as far as she could without falling. "Stiles, the plants under the window are flattened."

"Call Scott and Liam. I'll get my dad." Malia howled out the window as Stiles ran back to their room to get his phone, dialing his dad as he came back just in time to hear three answering howls.

"Stiles? What's going on? Why are you calling me at midnight?" The Sheriff's voice was husky from sleep but Stiles ignored that.

"Dad, we think someone's taken Allie. Scott's on his way but we might need the police too."

"I'm on my way. No one hurts my granddaughter and gets away with it." On any other occasion, Stiles might have laughed at his father's protectiveness but now he just ignored it and hung up as Malia rushed past him, he guessed to get the front door.

"Hey, what's going on?" Scott was the first one up, followed by Liam and another familiar face; Isaac.

"Isaac. What...when did you get back to town?" Stiles ignored Scott's question, turning to the the tall blonde man.

"I got back a few hours ago. My girlfriend, Georgia, and I just bought a house together in LA but I wanted to bring her here and show her where I grew up before we settled in. I was going to come and visit tomorrow but when I heard Malia's howl, I thought I'd come and help."

"Well, under different circumstances, we'd say it's great to see you but…" Malia said, coming to stand beside Stiles.

"What exactly are the circumstances?" Scott asked.

"We think someone's taken Allie."

"What?" Liam glanced around as if he would see Allie standing there.

"We heard her scream. When we came in, the window was open and I'm certain it was closed when I left only few minutes before." Stiles explained. "My dad's on his way with some of the deputies so I guess you guys had better get to work if you're going to be of any help." Nodding, the three werewolves began searching the room. Stiles and Malia stood by the door watching, until they heard the police sirens coming up the road and he rushed downstairs to let them in.

As predicted, once the police got there, Scott, Liam and Isaac were asked to leave the scene and the room was blocked off as the police began their own search. One of the deputies,a new one called Abigail Marshall, sat down in the living room with Stiles and Malia, questioning them about Allie and the events of the evening.

"Okay, that's enough Deputy.I'll take it from here." The Sheriff interrupted after a while. Abigail nodded and went upstairs to join the others. "Do you guys have any idea if this was supernatural or…?"

"Well, we think it might be supernatural, dad. We've had a bit of an incident recently that might have been an opening to this." Stiles said.

"Right. But just to be on the safe side, what about your work, Stiles? Is there anyone you've dealt with that could have…?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. I've dealt with so many creeps. And they all threaten to get back at us when we put them away but it never really accounts for much. But that doesn't mean much now, does it?" Stiles sighed and dropped his head into his hands.

"Stiles, we'll find her. I promise, we'll call in every favour we can to get her back here as soon as possible, supernatural or not." The Sheriff said, putting a comforting hand on his son's knee. Scott came into the room then and Stiles knew his best friend had worked up a plan.

"Isaac, Liam and I are heading out now to follow a trail. We'll keep in contact, though if we find anything."

"Make sure you stay in touch with me or at least Parrish as well. We need to keep the police involved as well."

"Will do." Scott left and the Sheriff sighed, rubbing his hands over his eyes.

"Dad? Are you okay?" Stiles asked.

"Yeah. I'm just tired. This is the last thing I needed tonight. But I'm fine."

"You sure?" Malia was the one concerned now but he just shrugged it off.

"I'll bet anything I'm doing a lot better than you two are right now."

"Maybe. But you can't go out on search parties if you're tired, Dad. Go home and get some sleep. The deputies can finish up here."

"Fine. But I'm leaving Parrish on guard overnight."

"Sounds good." The Sheriff stood up and hugged the two of them.

"We'll find her. You have the entire Beacon Hills Sheriff's department out there looking for her. Not to mention three werewolves, including a True Alpha."

"I know. But that's not what I'm worried about. I'm scared that maybe you won't find her alive." Stiles' voice finally cracked and Malia could hear the tears in his voice that he fought to keep back so she wrapped an arm around him.

"Don't think like that." She whispered.

"She's right, Stiles. Don't send your mind to the worst case scenario. It won't help anyone, least of all Allie." The Sheriff gave him a forced smile before leaving.

Stiles and Malia sat back on the couch and waited. Eventually, the deputies finished their jobs and left too, leaving Parrish standing guard outside the front door. Neither Stiles nor Malia had the energy to keep him company but neither felt like sleeping either so they spent the rest of the night curled up on the living room couch together, waiting for any news.

They didn't even notice the sun had come up or that Parrish had come inside to put the coffee pot on until the doorbell rang. As if on autopilot, Stiles got up to answer it but Parrish beat him there, one hand on the hilt of his gun. His alarm wasn't necessary though, because it just turned out to be Kira and the twins at the door, armed with a bag that meant they were staying for the day.


	13. Chapter 13

Nearly a week passed with the same routine. Stiles and Malia would spend an almost sleepless night on the living room couch with either Parrish or some other deputy on guard at the front door. In the morning, Scott would drop off Kira and the twins and give an update on the search. By the time the sun went down in the evening, Liam and Isaac would be back, usually armed with some form of take-away food for everyone.

On Saturday night, however, the routine changed. Instead of both beats showing up, it was only Isaac, his eyes glinting with news.

"What? What have you found? Is it Allie?" Stiles asked, nearly tackling Isaac the moment he stepped in the front door.

"Well… not really. We've definitely found something, though."

"Tell me it's good news." Malia begged. Isaac hesitated and Stiles heard the low growl build up in Malia's throat.

"I think it's better if I show you."

"Then show us." Stiles was impatient now.

"It's not here. You'll have to come with me." Isaac had barely finished speaking before Malia sprinted up the stairs to get coats for herself and Stiles. Kira, who had heard everything, spoke up when Malia came back down.

"I'll lock up before I go." The kitsune hugged her friends just before they hurried out to Isaac's car.

Despite the speed at which Isaac was driving, Stiles knew where they were going pretty soon. Sure enough, they pulled into a clearing of the Beacon Hills Preserve and got out.

"I don't see anything." Malia said after a while.

"Just stay here a moment. I'm going to tell Scott you're here."

"Fine." Stiles huffed but resigned himself to waiting and leaned against the car. Isaac disappeared into the woods.

"Do you think they've found her?" Stiles asked after a while.

"Don't you think they would have brought her home if they had?" Malia replied.

"Maybe. I can't think of any other reason they'd drag us out here, though. I can't help but think the worst."

"Don't do that. We have to hold on to hope."

"Malia, she's all I've had for a long time. I can't help it if my mind automatically goes to that place."

"Let's think about something else for the time being then."

"Like what? What else could we think about?"

"The fae? Remember your idea to return the balance?"

"Having another kid? Malia, I can't even think about that right now, not with Allie missing."

"I know. And I'm not saying we have to do anything until we get Allie back but we can certainly think about it, can't we?" Stiles shrugged and glanced off towards the direction that Isaac had run.

"Maybe...hey, do you think you can track them? I'm tired of waiting." Malia couldn't help laughing a little but nodded and took hold of his hand. Together, they traipsed through the forest, Malia carefully making sure they were going the right way.

After about ten minutes, Malia stopped short, her eyes darting all around.

"What?" Stiles asked, stopping too.

"They're close. I don't want to risk going too much closer because if I can hear them, they can probably hear us."

"Can you hear what they're saying?"

"I can just make out some things. Not details but the general idea."

"Well? What are they saying?"

About half a mile away, Scott, Isaac and Liam stood close together, talking quietly. The Beacon Hills Sheriff's Department officers were scattered around not far off, taking photographs and measurements of a couple of tracks in the mud.

"What do we tell Stiles and Malia?" Scott asked.

"The truth? Wouldn't you want that if it were you and Kira?" Isaac suggested.

"How do we tell them the truth? I mean, they're relying on us to find her." Scott sighed.

"Scott, we can't just let them think we're still looking. It'll become obvious eventually." Liam was a voice of reason.

"That Allie's kidnapping wasn't supernatural? Well, yeah…"

Further in the woods, Malia turned to Stiles, her eyes wide.

"What? What did they say?" He asked.

"It wasn't the fae who took Allie."

"Who was it?"

"Some guy named Brayden Finch."

"That bastard…" Malia raised an eyebrow.

"You know him?"

"Yeah. I put him away four years ago. We caught him as part of a big drug ring take-down. Finch threatened to get back at us, specifically me because I'd been so fundamental in his arrest."

"When did he get out?"

"Can't have been more than two weeks ago."

"Perfect timing, right?"

"Yep." Stiles sighed and hung his head. "I should have known that my job would come back to bite me in the ass one day."

"None of us could have guessed, bro." At the sound of Scott's voice, Stiles looked up.

"Where did you…?"

"I knew you were listening. I figured it was a good way to let you know what was going on." Despite himself, Stiles smiled a little.

"Nice. But what happens now? You and I both know the police force aren't all they're cracked up to be."

"Hey!" Liam protested but let it slide.

"Your dad's on the phone to the FBI now and they're putting out a no-fly order on any and all helicopters in and out of the immediate area." Issac said, leaning against a nearby tree.

"But what do we do?" Stiles asked and Scott stepped closer to put his hand on his best friend's shoulder.

"Exactly what we've been doing for the last week. Wait."


	14. Chapter 14

It was a gloomy party that returned to Stiles and Malia's house an hour later. Even Naomi and Aiden weren't chattering loudly like they usually did. Sheriff Stilinski stopped by after a while and made sure everyone was clear on the fact that they could no longer help in the search before disappearing again, back to the station

In the kitchen, Kira was buzzing around, making food for everyone until Scott made her sit and rest while he took over. Isaac and Liam talked quietly in the corner, occasionally making a wild gesture or two. Stiles sat at the island bench, resting his chin on his hands and Malia paced up and down.

"I just don't get it. Other people in your team have kids, why not target them?" Malia asked after a while.

"Because I was in lead for that particular case. It was my decisions that got him caught and arrested. Stiles explained, not even looking up.

"I swear if I ever meet this guy…"

"You won't." Scott interrupted. "When we find Allie he'll be put behind bars for the rest of his life if any of us have anything to say about it."

"He's right. No-one hurts a member of our pack and gets away with it." Liam said, coming over to lean on the counter beside Stiles..

"Still…"

"Malia." Stiles finally looked up and everyone saw the flash of anger in his eyes. "You were gone for the majority of her life, you have not right…"

"I have every right. She's my daughter too. So what if I missed her growing up? I'm here now, aren't I?"

"That's not the point. The point is you're acting as if you've been around her forever and…"

"Stiles!" Scott grabbed his best friend by the shoulders and pulled him out of the kitchen, leaving the rest of the pack in a stunned silence. In the living room, the two men faced each other. "Stiles, she's hurting just like you are. What you said about her not being around is true but she loves Allie too, we all do."

"I know, I just…"

"I know man, trust me, I know. I've got two kids of my own that I worry about every day and two more on the way."

"Do you really think she'll be okay?"

"If she's not, that bastard will wish he'd never messed with us. I promise." Stiles allowed himself a small smile as he hugged his best friend.

"Thanks."

"Anytime." They went back into the kitchen and Stiles moved over to Malia, pulling her close.

"I'm sorry, Malia." He said as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"Me too." She whispered. Around them, the others were silent, the only sound in the room being the simmer of the boiling pot on the stove and the sniffles coming from Stiles and Malia as they cried together.

After a while, Scott pronounced the food ready to eat and the pack sat around the dining room table to eat. Naomi and Aiden told everyone a story about something that had happened at school a few weeks ago and it got a few scattered laughs from the group but the atmosphere remained dampened.

* * *

About midnight, Scott and Kira left with the twins, promising to be back the next day. Isaac headed off not long after but Liam stayed behind on deputy duty. Malia and Stiles made their way up to their room and collapsed into bed but neither of them fell asleep. Instead they simply lay there, facing each other, a million thoughts running through their minds. They could hear Liam downstairs, busying himself cleaning the kitchen and dining room.

"What do you think he's doing to her?" Stiles asked after a long silence.

"Don't think about it."

"I can't think about anything else. Every time I close my eyes, I keep seeing all the horrible things he could be doing."

"If he does anything to hurt her, he'll have one hell of a time making up for it when we get her back." Malia promised, moving her hand to rest on Stiles' cheek. He smiled slightly and leaned over to kiss her.

"No matter what happens, I love you Malia."

"I love you too Stiles. I always have, always will." They were about to kiss again when they heard tires screeching up the road and a car door slammed just outside their house. At first they ignored it but when Liam started yelling at them to come downstairs, they jumped up and sprinted to the kitchen where Isaac and Liam stood waiting, their eyes glowing. Isaac held his phone to his ear and was listening intently to whoever was on the other end of the call.

"Your dad just called, Stiles. He's been contacted by the FBI. They've got Allie."

"Oh my god...where? We need to get there now." Stiles said, almost snatching the phone from Isaac.

"Hold it. Neither of you are in any state to drive right now so I'm not going to tell you where it is that we're going. Liam and I will drive you." Isaac told him,pulling the phone away from Stiles.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go then." Malia said and she sprinted upstairs to get shoes and coats for herself and Stiles. Meanwhile, Liam had run out to the car to get it running, Isaac finished his call with the Sheriff and Stiles typed a quick message to Scott, explaining what had happened.

Within minutes, they were on the road, leaving Beacon Hills far behind.


	15. Chapter 15

"Are you going to give us an idea of how long until we see our daughter?" Stiles asked as they passed a sign pointing towards San Francisco.

"We're almost there." Isaac answered.

"So she's in San Francisco?"

"Just outside. Look, Liam and I will drop you off there and head home to help with the aftermath there. There's a hotel room booked for the two of you for tonight in case the doctors won't let you see her or whatever."

"Fine." Stiles said, reaching across the back seat to take Malia's hand. They were struggling to contain their excitement at seeing Allie again.

As promised, when they pulled up outside the hospital, Liam and Isaac didn't get out. They asked Malia and Stiles to tell Allie she was being thought of before driving off, back to Beacon Hills. Inside the hospital, it took a moment to find a nurse to tell them where Allie was.

"Hello? Can someone help us? We're looking for our daughter." Malia called over the desk at the nurse's station.

"Hi, how can I help?" A young blonde nurse came hurrying up, a huge smile plastered on her face.

"We're looking for our daughter; Allie Stilinski. She's been brought to this hospital."

"Ah, you must be Malia Hale and Stiles Stilinski. We've been waiting for you. If you could just provide some I.D, we'll be good."

"I.D? Why are you asking us to waste time sorting out I.D when we've been worried sick about our daughter for over a week?" Malia looked ready to fly at the nurse but Stiles' calming hand on her arm stopped her.

"I'm sure you'd understand, under the circumstances with the young girl in question, we must be extra careful whom we let in to see her."

"But…"

"Malia, just show her your license. It'll be quicker than arguing." Stiles muttered, already pulling out his own. She sighed but did so anyway, handing the card to the nurse who checked carefully before smiling as she waved for them to follow her.

Hands clasped tightly, they followed the nurse through a twisting maze of hallways and doors to a quiet area of the hospital. Eventually, they came to a dead-end hallway with a guard standing outside a door.

"Your daughter is in here. We'll give you a few moments alone with her." The nurse said, nodding at the guard to step aside. Malia was shaking so much that she couldn't push the door open so Stiles did instead.

"DADDY!" The small cry from across the room made Stiles' heart break. He saw his daughter sitting cross-legged on the hospital bed, an IV tube stuck in her arm. There was a huge grin plastered on her face and she held her arms out wide, wanting a hug.

He knew it was his daughter sitting there but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the ragged mess that had once been her beautiful long brown hair, now cut haphazardly and dyed midnight black. It made the unbruised parts of her face seem pale. And then there were the hundreds of bruises that covered her face, arms and legs. He knew that if he could see bruises that bad, the ones covered up by her clothes and the bandage on her leg would be worse. He pushed his mixed feelings aside, though and crossed the room, Malia following close behind. Tears fell from all eyes in the room as the small family hugged tightly until a whimper of pain from Allie caused Malia and Stiles to jerk away quickly.

"What hurts, baby?" Stiles asked, sitting beside Allie on the bed.

"Everywhere. Daddy, that man was mean."

"I know, honey, I know. But he's been caught and put away for a very long time so you don't have to worry about him anymore." Malia had been silent this whole time, simply resting her hand on the small of Allie's back. She felt a bit hurt that Allie had yet to talk directly to her but she knew it was her own fault. In the years she'd been gone, Allie had only had her father to turn to and now, in the moment she needed the most support, she'd turned to him.

"Mommy?" Malia was pulled from her thoughts by the little girl who was staring intently at her.

"Yes?"

"Did you miss me?"

"Of course I did sweetheart. You have no idea how much I missed you."

"I missed you too. And daddy. And Uncle Scott and Aunty Kira and Aiden and Naomi and everyone."

"And they missed you too."

"Daddy, when can I go home?" Allie turned back to her father with hope in her eyes but Stiles sighed.

"I'm not sure honey. The doctors and police probably want you to stay here for a few days to make sure everything is okay."

"But I want to go home." Malia caught Stiles' eye over Allie's head before answering.

"We know you do, but we need to make sure the man who took you is locked up tight and that anyone helping him is put away too so that it's safe for you to come home." A knock on the door made them all look up. A man who Stiles assumed to be a doctor stuck his head in.

"Ah, you must be little Allie's mom and dad, am I right?"

"Yes, uh, I'm Stiles and this is my girlfriend, Malia."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Dr. Anderson. Your daughter has been very eager to see you since she was brought in." The doctor crossed the room to shake hands with Stiles and Malia.

"We were very eager to see her too." Stiles smiled and wrapped an arm around Allie. "So, Dr Anderson, is everything okay? When can she come home?"

"From my initial observations, everything seems to be okay. There's obviously a lot of bruising all over and there's a slight laceration on her leg but there's no signs of infection. We'd like to keep her overnight for observation and she should be free to go home tomorrow. Would you like that, Allie?" Malia hadn't seen Allie as excited as she was just then and it became contagious. Both Stiles and Malia had grins to match their daughters.

"Thank-you Dr. Anderson." The doctor smiled at the little girl.

"You're very welcome Allie. Now, I'm just going to check your bandage, okay?" Allie nodded and Stiles and Malia got up to allow the doctor access. When the bandage came off, Stiles couldn't help the gasp that escaped him at the sight of the long gash on Allie's leg. There was a total of twelve stitches closing it up and a little blood still seeping out.

"Did he do this to you, Allie?" Stiles asked, trying and failing to keep the anger out of his voice. Allie looked surprised.

"No. Dr. Anderson has only sewed it shut and put the bandage on."

"No, I meant the bad man, the one who took you."

"Oh. Yes. He got mad at me because I tried to get out of the room he made me stay in." Stiles was surprised at how calmly Allie was telling him this. He'd hear stories during his time at the FBI about kids not fully understanding what had happened to them but this seemed unreal for it to actually be happening in front of his eyes. He didn't know how to reply to that.

"When I get my hands on that man…" Malia hissed in his ear. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Shh. Don't scare Allie." He whispered back.

"Well, everything looks good, Allie. Do you mind if I talk to your mom and dad outside for a bit?"

"No. I'm tired anyway." Allie smiled and wriggled back to lay down. Both Stiles and Malia leant over to kiss her forehead before following Dr. Anderson out into the hallway.

"Is everything okay, doctor?" Malia asked when the door was shut.

"Of course. Her injuries consist mostly of bruising, aside from the gash on her leg and slight abrasions on her wrists where she was restrained."

"I didn't notice any bandaging on her wrists." Stiles observed.

"That's because the abrasions aren't severe enough to warrant concern for infection. They'll heal better being open to the environment. However, her physical injuries aren't what I wanted to discuss with you."

"Psychological injuries?" Stiles guessed.

"Yes. She was only held for a week but whatever that man did to her, she's quite severely scarred. Chances are she won't talk about it for a long time. But I want to recommend she see a psychologist when she is released. We've already had our hospital's psychologist in to talk to her a while ago however she was only interested in seeing you two.

"Of course. I was already considering searching when we got home." Stiles agreed wholeheartedly.

"I can send my recommendations with you when you leave if you'd like. I happen to have some good connections with psychologists in Beacon Hills."

"Sure. That'd be a great help." Malia spoke up. "Can we go back in to see her?"

"As much as I'd like to say yes, I think we should let her relax. She's exhausted from the events of the past week. I would suggest the two of you spend the night in the hotel across the road and you can come back in the morning."

"You think we're going to let her out of our sight for one second when we've just gotten her back…?" Malia raised her eyebrows incredulously.

"Malia, he's right. Whatever Allie's gone through this week, it's exhausted her. And we're exhausted too. A little rest will be good for all of us." Stiles put a hand on her shoulder and she sighed, giving in.

"Fine."

"When can we come back in the morning?"

"Officially, visiting hours start at seven but if you're here before then, I can leave a note with the nursing station to let you in." Dr. Anderson smiled and tucked his notes away into a folder.

"Thanks. I'm not sure when we'll be in tomorrow but it will be nice to be able to come in anytime." Stiles replied.

"Ok then, I will let the nurses know." Dr Anderson reached out a hand to shake and both of them complied. 'It was lovely to meet the two of you. And I'm glad to know you've got your daughter back." With that, the doctor spun on his heel and walked away, leaving them standing alone in the corridor.

"Well, I guess we should get going. Isaac said there's a room for us already." Stiles suggested, talking Malia's hand. She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Okay." Together, they walked back to the lobby and across the road to the hotel. Inside, they were led up to a small room with only a bed and small side table.

"The motel we stayed in with all the suicides was better than this." Stiles muttered but Malia shrugged.

"Doesn't really matter, though does it? I mean we're only here to sleep tonight, right?"

"Of course." He smiled at her and sat on the bed, pulling her with him. "You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah." She leaned over and kissed him, starting softly and deepening the kiss slowly, tangling her fingers in his hair. He eagerly responded and they fell backwards onto the bed.

* * *

 **A/N: So I have one more chapter planned for this story but I have some ideas that I could use to do some sort of epilogue or maybe a one-shot sequel. What do people think?**


	16. Chapter 16

The next morning, Malia woke as the sun came up, sending rays of light dancing through the window. For a moment, everything was perfect. She snuggled closer to Stiles as she watched him wake, running her hand over his chest and pressed a few gentle kisses to his collar bone. He grunted a little and pulled her closer.

"Morning, beautiful." He muttered, kissing the top of her head.

"I don't think you've called me that since before I left." She said. "I like it."

"Well, it describes you perfectly." Malia smiled and pushed herself up to kiss him properly.

"We should get going. I want to be there when Allie wakes up." She reluctantly rolled away from him and sat up, stretching her arms up.

"Allie's not going to be up for ages. We could spend some time just the two of us," Stiles reached across and pulled her back down, "It seems like forever since we had time for just the two of us."

"But Allie…" She laughed as she allowed herself to fall on top of him.

"...will be fine. She's in the hospital under 24-hour surveillance." Stiles grinned and kissed her hard. And so, for the next hour, they stayed in bed, loving being alone together for once.

* * *

When they finally got up, they dressed quickly and headed out. They grabbed a muffin each from the hospital cafeteria before heading up to Allie's room. The guard outside the door was still the same and simply stood aside to let them in.

"Mommy, daddy!" Allie sat up straight when she saw her parents, a huge smile on her face.

"Hey honey." Stiles and Malia crossed the room to sit beside her on the bed.

"How come you're late?"

"We didn't think you'd be up yet. And we didn't want to wake you." Stiles informed her with a quick glance at Malia.

"Oh. Okay. Can I go home today?"

"Well, Dr. Anderson seemed pretty happy with your progress yesterday, so maybe." Just as Malia finished speaking, Dr Anderson came into the room. "Speak of the devil…"

"Oh, I didn't realise you were here."

"We just got here."

"That's fine, I was just coming to tell Allie that she can go home today if she wants. The notes from last night's nurses are all good and when I checked her leg this morning, it seemed to be healing right on schedule."

"Yay!" Allie started bouncing slightly in the bed making all three adults laugh.

"If I can get one of you to come and sort out the release forms, and I'll give you the recommendations I told you about as well."

"I'll come, Malia you help Allie get sorted to go. Oh and call for a taxi." Stiles got up and began to follow the doctor.

"Sure."

Within the hour, they were squashed into the back of a taxi and heading back towards Beacon Hills. Allie was in between Stiles and Malia and couldn't be happier, except for one thing.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Allie?"

"Can we fix my hair? I don't like it like this."

"Of course. We can't do much about the colour. We'll just have to let it grow out but we can get it styled better so that it looks okay." Stiles promised.

* * *

They were almost back to Beacon Hills when Stiles suddenly called out to the taxi driver to stop. In confusion, Allie and Malia watched as he jumped out and hurried over towards the _Welcome to Beacon Hills_ sign. Stiles had noticed a faint blue glow hovering just behind the sign and decided to confront the fae hiding there.

"Hey!" He called and the beautiful blonde faerie became solid, turning to face him.

"Yes?"

"What are you doing here? Hiding out in plain sight where anyone can see you."

"I was simply waiting for yourself and Miss Hale to arrive back in Beacon Hills. We have news on the unbalance."

"News on the unbalance? Oh, you mean the fact that you basically threatened to hurt my daughter?" By this time, Malia and Allie had come over and Allie reached up to take his hand.

"No. We never meant any harm to come to young Allie."

"Yeah, you kinda did." Malia spoke up.

"What was said in the past does not matter now. The balance has been restored."

"Huh?" Stiles frowned and turned to look at Malia whose eyes went wide and her hand flew to her stomach.

"Oh my god." She whispered and Stiles understood.

"How? When?" He stammered, turning to look back at the faerie who simply shrugged.

"That is unknown. I only came to inform you that you no longer need to worry about finding a balance." And just like that, the faerie disappeared from view, leaving the small family standing there. Allie looked confused and glanced between her parents, who just stared at each other.

"Daddy? What's happened?"

"Umm…I'm not quite sure, honey." Stiles replied, finally looking down at her.

"How about we go home and we'll talk about it there?" Malia suggested and Stiles nodded, following her over to the cab. The rest of the ride home was silent, both Stiles and Malia thinking over what had just happened.


	17. Chapter 17

Later that night, after Allie had fallen asleep and Stiles and Malia had managed to tear themselves away from watching her, they sat in the living room.

"So…" Stiles started, reaching a hand to rest on her knee. She looked at him, a smile playingat her lips.

"We're going to be parents again." She whispered.

"I know we talked about it but I never imagined it would happen now."

"Stiles, I just…I have to say, I want this time to be different."

"Different? How?" Stiles was confused.

"I mean, when Allie was born, that was when everything went bad. I don't want to hurt you again."

"Oh." Stiles was quiet for a moment before taking hold of her hands and looking her straight in the eyes. "I promise you, this time around, I won't let you be forgotten."

"Promise?" In answer, Stiles leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, putting as much promise and passion into the kiss as possible.

"I promise." He whispered when he pulled back. She smiled a little and gently placed her hand on his cheek.

"Thank you." They were silent for a moment, just letting everything sink in.

"Should we tell Allie?"

"Not yet. I think we should wait a little bit, to make sure we're really having another baby before we get her hopes up."

"I guess." Stiles looked at her for a moment, as if deciding on something, before pulling her up. "Com with me." He said. Laughing a little, she followed as he dragged her out into the backyard, over to the old wooden swing that they'd spent so much time relaxing on before Malia left.

"Why are we out here?"

"You'll see." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again, his hands exploring every inch of her back. She responded in kind with her own hands tangling into his hair. For a moment, they were all alone in the world. It seemed as if it was just the two of them, standing there in the warm evening light with the stars glittering above them. Malia let out a disappointed groan when Stiles finally pulled away but the groan turned into a gasp when he knelt down on one knee, clasping her hand firmly between his own.

"Malia, I know our relationship hasn't exactly been traditional. I mean, when we met you weren't even human. But I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You're the love of my life and the mother of my daughter. I promise to spend every second of the rest of my life loving you and making you the most important person in the world to me. Would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" Malia had tears streaming down her face by the time he finished and could only nod as he stood up, embracing her tightly so he could spin her around.

"What took you so long?" She finally said with a tear-filled laugh. "Of course I'll marry you."


End file.
